Upper Body Injury with… the Ottawa Senators

Last season, we did a segment called “Upper Body Injury with…” where we featured the brightest and the best of the Los Angeles Kings opponent bloggers. We hadn’t really done one this season because no team was exciting enough to warrant it. But when you say the Kings are battling the Ottawa Senators… I don’t think it gets more exciting than the Battle of the Brothers.

Wow, I knew Daniel Alfredsson was getting old, but I had no idea.

You probably couldn’t find a team that the Los Angeles Kings have less of a history with than the Ottawa Senators. But when you dig a little deeper, you learn that 2 of the greatest fights in Kings history happened in Ottawa… Felix Potvin vs Jani Hurme… and Jim Fox vs Bryan Murray.

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The Senators have iced a consistent playoff contender most of the last few years, even making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007… only to lose to the Anaheim Ducks. But now, near the quarter mark of the NHL season, the Senators find themselves hovering around .500, and losers of 3 in a row. Now, in Los Angeles, I have hard enough time finding a bar that will turn on the Kings game… but Bloguin finds themselves with TWO (!) Ottawa Senators blogs. So The Royal Half sat down with the Podcast Overlords at The 6th Sens to see what Canada’s Capital thinks about Bob Kudelski’s hat tricks… or Dany Heatley’s No-Trade-Clause… or John Muckler’s legacy… check it out after the jump! UPDATE: To see my answers to The 6th Sens questions check them out here.

1) Steve Duchesne, Brian Smolinski, Shawn McEachern, Radek Bonk, Joe Corvo, Tom Preissing or Bob Kudelski…. who was the best former Ottawa Senator to also have been a Los Angeles King?

Where’s the love for former Senators draft pick Tim Gleason? That guy netted you Jack Johnson in a trade. My apologies for the lingering bitterness. Between John Mucker’s Gleason trade for Brian Smolinski and him passing on Anze Kopitar to draft Brian Lee, the Kings have benefitted from the ineptitude of the former Ottawa GM. Seriously though, I’ve always had a soft spot for Bob Kudelski. Even though he only played for a short time with Ottawa, I’ll never forget the hat-trick that he scored against San Jose during Ottawa’s 1993-94 season. As a Kings fan, you can appreciate that kind of production against the Sharks.

2) This version of the Ottawa Senators have been in the league for 18 seasons and made the playoffs 12 times. The Kings have made the playoffs once in the last 8 years. Are the playoffs fun?

Are the playoffs fun? Absolutely. Nothing beats the playoff hockey atmosphere at the rink. As you have mentioned, Ottawa has made the playoffs in 12 of the past 13 seasons and over that time, the organization has done everything short of beating the Toronto Maple Leafs and winning the Stanley Cup. Considering that Ottawa is the fourth oldest team and a middle of the pack one at that, I no longer consider a playoff appearance as a barometer of success. If this were a young and up-coming team that needed the playoff experience to learn how to win, my opinion would be different.

3) Where were you when you heard the words “Alexei Kovalev, 2 years, 10 million dollars”?

I believe I was on the road when the news broke over the radio. It’s pretty funny how you go through the stages of emotion – From shock (Wow! He left Montreal?), to resentment (This is all Dany Heatley’s fault. Had he waived his NTC, he could have been dealt to Edmonton, Ottawa would have had the money to go after a guy like Cammalleri and now Bryan Murray is left to pick off the second tiered free agent scrapheap. Or, Kovalev only signed here was because of the money and term. He chose Ottawa over staying in a city that appreciated him. Does he care anymore? Or is he simply a mercenary for hire?), to reasoning (Well, Ottawa has no secondary scoring or young, offensive talent in the system to fill that role and the power play was terrible.) to acceptance (He can help!). Even though he’s contributed of late alongside Peter Regin and Jason Spezza, I feel like fans and the media have these feelings of dread towards him. Like we’re waiting for his production and effort to go missing again.

4) Jason Spezza. Should he stay or should he go?

Stay. Stay. Stay. Jason Spezza’s been Ottawa’s best forward this season. Ottawa can’t afford to trade him for two reasons: One, they couldn’t replace his production; and two, as this offseason indicated, they could only get 30 cents on the dollar in any prospective return.

5) Jim Fox versus Brian Murray in a fight. Who you got?

Bryan Murray hands down. One should never fight a man from Shawville who has a lisp. Odds are they know how to handle themselves.

Be sure to check out The 6th Sens for all your news and notes from Canada’s Capital.